Introduction to Property Development - Dragon’s Den

Our ‘Introduction to Property Development’ programme in partnership with Land Securities came to a head last week when our two teams of A-level students pitched their development plans to a panel of dragons which included senior employees from Land Securities, Hobs Studio, Wilkinson Eyre, and Mace.

Developed in partnership with Land Securities, Construction Youth Trust’s bespoke Introduction to Property Development course has been specially designed to introduce students in years 11-13 to the processes and the job roles involved in developing or redeveloping property and is accredited through Open College Network London.

The course is part of the Budding Brunels programme – an industry-led careers and guidance workshop for secondary school students to challenge their perception of what construction really means, whilst introducing them to a variety of professional careers within the industry.

Now in its 4th year, this year’s Introduction to Property Development course focuses on the 21, Moorfields site and will look at four key areas of property development:

The Master Plan: What will the finished development look like and why has this project been selected?

Stakeholder Engagement: How, and why, do you identify and engage with a range of interested individuals and organisations?

Finance: What will it cost, how will it be paid for and what is the potential revenue?

Marketing: How can the opportunities and benefits of the development be marketed and how do you identify your audience?

Throughout the course the students are guided through each of these areas by professionals in the sector who help them to complete corresponding exercises in the course workbook.

By gaining an understanding of these areas students are able to gain a valuable insight into the different career options open to them in property development. The course is attended by students from 2 schools; Westminster City School and Pimlico Academy.

This week the course culminated with each group using all the knowledge that they have gained over the preceding weeks to prepare a presentation in a Dragon’s Den style scenario, to an expert panel from Land Securities and their partners on how, and why, they would design and develop a current Land Securities project – in this case, the 21 Moorfields site.

After some tense deliberation, the judges eventually awarded Pimlico Academy as the winners. Both groups should be extremely proud as they excelled in their planning and presentation, and received high praise from all judges.

Congratulations to both teams, as this was a huge achievement for all involved.

We run the Budding Brunels course on a regular basis during term time and welcome potential corporate partners, schools or students to get in touch if they are interested in finding out more.